Introduction ... 1
About This Book ... 1
Conventions Used in This Book ... 2
Foolish Assumptions ... 3
How This Book Is Organized ... 4
Part I: Making Your Mark as an Innovator ... 4
Part II: Stimulating Your Creative Side: Thinking in New and Different Ways ... 5
Part III: Applying Creativity and Innovation to Daily Challenges ... 5
Part IV: Implementing a Major Innovation ... 6
Part V: The Part of Tens ... 6
Icons Used in This Book ... 6
Where to Go from Here ... 7
Part I: Making Your Mark as an Innovator ... 9
Chapter 1: Taking an Innovative Approach to Work . . . .11
Tapping Into Your Own Creative Force ... 12
Generating more ideas ... 12
Identifying your biggest barriers to creativity ... 14
Taking advantage of your biggest enablers of creativity ... 16
Constructing Your Creative Place ... 18
Introducing Creative Practices to Your Daily Routine ... 21
Balancing tight and loose activities ... 21
Freeing yourself to daydream ... 22
Pursuing interesting questions instead of letting them pass by ... 22
Cross-training the body to strengthen the mind ... 23
Seeking Broader Experience ... 24
Finding ways to challenge yourself ... 24
Taking personal risks ... 24
Spending more time with people who aren’t at all like you ... 25
Seeking the company of innovators ... 26
Getting out of your personal and career silos ... 27
Supporting inquisitive behavior ... 27
Learning from innovation mentors ... 28
Becoming a Leading Innovator ... 29
Making your creativity and drive visible to higher-ups ... 30
Stepping up to development teams and roles ... 30
Chapter 2: Creating an Innovative Career Path. . . .33
Seeing Your Career as an Adventure ... 34
Breaking through the barriers to career change ... 34
Making opportunistic moves ... 36
Counting Up Your Transferable Skills and Experiences ... 37
Seeking Opportunities to Innovate ... 39
Moving Toward Growth ... 40
Encouraging your own personal growth... 40
Targeting growth areas in your current organization... 41
Taking advantage of fast-growing cities ... 41
Serving the fastest-growing age groups ... 42
Tapping into international growth ... 42
Inventing Your Next Job ... 42
Proposing a new position for yourself ... 43
Generating freelance and consultative work ... 43
Developing entrepreneurial career options ... 44
Chapter 3: Leading with Creative Vision . . . .45
Visualizing the Possibilities for Innovative Leadership ... 46
Setting ambitious goals ... 46
Encouraging others to envision change too ... 48
Knowing when innovation is required ... 50
Getting to Know Yourself as a Leader ... 51
Identifying your leadership orientation ... 52
Zeroing in on your leadership style ... 54
Adjusting your style to fi t the situation ... 54
Adapting the classic styles for faster innovation ... 56
Putting orientation and style together ... 58
Developing Your Leadership Skills ... 59
Seeking feedback ... 59
Working with a mentor... 59
Seeking varied leadership experiences ... 59
Managing the risks of innovation ... 60
Projecting a Positive Attitude ... 61
Expressing both hopefulness and optimism ... 62
Being pragmatically creative ... 62
Going for that positive ripple effect ... 62
Putting All Your Leadership Skills Together ... 63
Chapter 4: Innovating in Sales and Marketing . . . .67
Making an Inconspicuous but Powerful Impact ... 67
Assessing (And Violating) the Norms ... 68
Finding abnormal ways to accomplish your goals ... 69
Communicating in a different way ... 69
Violating social norms on purpose ... 69
Avoiding the cost of a sales call ... 70
Committing to a Creative Approach ... 71
Writing your creative brief ... 72
Coming up with the fi rst round of creative ideas ... 73
Narrowing Your Focus to Find Sources of Creative Advantage ... 75
Chapter 5: Being an Innovative Strategist . . . .79
Thinking Big by Planning to Re-create Your Business ... 80
Shifting from more of the same to creative planning ... 80
Including a mix of traditional and creative elements in your planning ... 81
Ensuring a Healthy Strategic Cycle ... 82
Phase-shifting in strategic time ... 83
Infl uencing strategy from the bottom up ... 83
Investing in a Family of Innovations ... 84
Being tough on underperforming projects and products ... 84
Making your next strategic move ... 85
Deciding how big a strategy to pursue ... 86
Including customer value in your strategy ... 87
Managing Your Product Portfolio ... 88
Riding a best-selling product to the top ... 88
Understanding the life cycle of each product category ... 88
Mapping your product portfolio ... 90
Planting enough seeds to make sure something grows ... 92
Seeking Strategic Partnerships ... 92
Mastering the Art of Change Management ... 94
Enlisting the eager believers and excluding the hopeless cases ... 94
Making the destination visible to all ... 95
Managing resistance during the change process ... 96
Watching out for snap-back ... 97
Part II: Stimulating Your Creative Side: Thinking in New and Different Ways ... 99
Chapter 6: Getting Juices Flowing in Brainstorming Sessions. . . . .101
Identifying Opportunities for Group Creativity ... 102
Calling for help with a problem... 102
Inviting questions for consideration ... 104
Building on suggestions ... 104
In or Out?: Issuing Invites to the Brainstorming Session ... 104
Deciding how big to make the group... 105
Excluding people who squash the creative spirit ... 105
Including people who contribute needed knowledge ... 106
Adding people who bring unique perspectives and styles ... 106
Planning the Creative Process ... 106
Deciding how much creative distance you want to travel ... 107
Budgeting suffi cient time ... 107
Preparing for Your Role as Facilitator ... 108
Practicing your questioning and listening skills ... 109
Guiding the group away from negative dynamics ... 109
Controlling your nonverbal signals ... 110
Becoming familiar with the challenge at hand ... 111
Mastering the Core Brainstorming Methods ... 112
Warming up the group ... 112
Using Osborn’s brainstorming rules ... 113
Introducing variations to improve results... 114
Considering additional creative processes ... 117
Wrapping it up ... 117
Being a Brilliant Participant ... 118
Contributing great ideas ... 118
Being an informal leader and cheerleader... 119
Overcoming your own creative timidity ... 119
Chapter 7: Mastering Advanced Brainstorming . . . .121
Going the Distance to Cash In on Creativity ... 122
Critiquing the results of your brainstorming ... 122
Doing more research based on fi rst-round questions ... 124
Being persistent ... 125
Focusing Your Brainstorming in Creative Ways ... 125
Stimulating a shift in how people think about the topic ... 125
Fighting design fi xation ... 126
Sharpening the view with narrower problem defi nitions ... 127
Breaking the problem into smaller problems ... 128
Visualizing for Creative Success ... 129
Introducing visual reference material ... 129
Using imagery to stimulate the mind’s eye ... 129
Sketching ideas rather than describing them ... 130
Building solutions from standard geometric shapes ... 131
Storyboarding an idea ... 131
Making small-scale models ... 132
Using sticky notes and a wall for your brainstorming ... 132
Drawing a mind map ... 133
Combining research with mind mapping... 134
Using mind-mapping software ... 135
Clustering ideas and suggestions ... 136
Producing insights and proposals from your mind map ... 136
Maximizing the Power of Team Thinking ... 137
Using index cards and the nominal group technique ... 137
Using pass-along brainstorming ... 139
Generating ideas from random words ... 141
Working individually, too! ... 141
Chapter 8: Going Beyond Brainstorming . . . .143
Using Customer Input for Inspiration ... 143
Organizing a focus group ... 144
Asking customers to fantasize about their ultimate product ... 145
Inviting customer input, both critical and creative... 145
Redesigning Processes ... 146
Taking Advantage of E-Mail ... 148
Including a provocative question or situation ... 148
Designing your e-mail for thoughtful consideration ... 149
Holding an e-mail contest for best idea ... 150
Engaging in creative e-mail conversations ... 150
Crowdsourcing for New Ideas ... 151
Going Deep for Intuitive Insight ... 153
Using naturalistic decision-making ... 154
Going back to nature ... 154
Asking a wise elder ... 154
Using soothsaying techniques ... 155
Being inventive ... 156
Chapter 9: Turning Problems into Opportunities for Innovation . . . .159
Seeing Problems with a Fresh Eye ... 159
Framing problems as creative opportunities ... 160
Postponing the decision to allow time for creative thought ... 161
Using creativity prompts ... 162
Approaching problems with optimism and hopefulness ... 162
Applying Analytical Problem-Solving ... 163
Using Dewey’s problem-solving process ... 163
Performing a payoff analysis ... 166
Engaging Your Creative Dissatisfaction ... 168
Recognizing the opportunity to be creative ... 169
Considering the opportunity costs of not innovating ... 170
Applying intuition along with logic... 170
Chapter 10: Going Shopping for Innovations. . . .171
Exploring Your Industry’s Trade Shows ... 171
Crossing Boundaries for Good Ideas ... 173
Visiting the wrong trade shows ... 173
Talking to outsiders ... 174
Seeking out cross-training opportunities ... 175
Benchmarking Industry Innovators ... 175
Studying upstarts and startups ... 175
Interviewing innovative job candidates ... 177
Seeing what businesses are boasting about ... 178
Taking a positive approach to evaluating possibilities ... 178
Checking for alignment with your competencies ... 179
Sourcing from Innovative Suppliers ... 179
Evaluating suppliers based on their creative momentum ... 179
Asking your suppliers for free consulting ... 181
Bringing your suppliers together to brainstorm ... 181
Going to the Experts for Help ... 181
Chapter 11: Coming Up with Creative Combinations. . . .183
Finding Inspiration in Successful Creative Combinations ... 183
Finding Innovative Combinations of Your Own ... 185
Revisiting classic combinations for quick wins ... 185
Brainstorming combinations with one of your core products .... 186
Recombining fundamental innovations ... 187
Combining Problems with Solutions ... 189
Finding problems similar to your own ... 189
Looking for problem themes ... 190
Getting Resourceful in Your Search for Combinations ... 191
Pairing things that nobody thinks should go together ... 192
Playing with words to fi nd unexpected combinations ... 192
Imitating without violating intellectual-property rights ... 193
Combining a customer want with a solution you can sell ... 193
Seeking Unusual Information ... 193
Casting a broad net ... 194
Seeking weak signals ... 194
Trying Unusual Forms ... 195
Part III: Applying Creativity and Innovation to Daily Challenges ... 197
Chapter 12: Delivering Fresh Presentations and Proposals. . . .199
Building the Credibility You Need to Be Creative ... 200
Sizing up your audience and context ... 200
Providing enough structure to reassure the audience ... 201
Engaging the audience ... 202
Finding Your Unique Insight ... 202
Starting with research ... 203
Incubating the facts until a fresh perspective pops out ... 204
Brainstorming for insight ... 204
Avoiding fi xating on the fi rst big idea ... 206
Outlining a strong framework for your presentation ... 206
Making Your Point with the Five Tools of Creative Presentation ... 207
Incorporating sources and facts ... 208
Engaging the mind’s eye with good visuals ... 209
An analogy is like a newly cleaned window ... 210
Telling tales ... 211
Branding Your Message with an Appropriate Look and Style ... 213
Matching tone and style ... 213
Creating a visual signature ... 213
Repeating your auditory signature ... 215
Controlling your body language ... 216
Chapter 13: Negotiating Creative Win–Wins . . . .219
Turning Confl icts into Creative Opportunities ... 219
Identifying confl icts with rich potential for innovation ... 220
Reframing the disagreement to introduce creative problem-solving ... 221
Signaling your good intentions to create buy-in ... 222
Beginning the dialogue with easy win–wins ... 222
Assessing Everyone’s Confl ict Styles ... 223
Identifying the natural collaborators ... 223
Reassuring the competitive negotiators ... 224
Making sure that your own style is consistent with your goals ... 224
Bridging the Gaps to Form an Ad Hoc Problem-Solving Team ... 225
Sharing your own interests and issues fi rst ... 225
Building a creative problem-solving team ... 225
Transitioning to Solution Brainstorming ... 226
Making sure that everyone knows it’s safe to share ideas ... 227
Suspending judgment ... 227
Facilitating brainstorming when participants are hostile ... 228
Identifying and Refi ning Win–Win Ideas ... 228
Agreeing that some ideas hold signifi cant promise ... 229
Working the top three ideas until one emerges as best ... 229
Chapter 14: Innovating to Save Costs . . . .231
Avoiding the Creative Frost Effect ... 231
Boosting creative determination ... 232
Avoiding pessimism about the future ... 232
Trying a clean-slate approach ... 233
Focusing on the Biggest Cost Categories ... 234
Identifying spending categories ... 234
Focusing on major sources of error or rework ... 236
Learning from Others ... 236
Sending out your scouts ... 236
Reviewing examples of cost-cutting measures elsewhere... 237
Asking around ... 239
Using Savings-Creation Methods from Idea to Implementation ... 239
Finding out where the losses really are ... 239
Generating effective cost-cutting ideas ... 240
Evaluating cost-cutting proposals ... 241
Implementing cost savings ... 241
Part IV: Implementing a Major Innovation ... 245
Chapter 15: Managing the Development of an Innovative Idea. . . . .247
Planning the Innovation Process ... 248
Being fl exible about the design ... 249
Clarifying the goal ... 249
Communicating early, often, and widely ... 250
Emphasizing long-term benefi ts ... 250
Monitoring the results ... 250
Building strong implementation teams ... 250
Innovating in Teams ... 251
Maintaining momentum through the four stages of the team’s life ... 251
Tapping into diverse contributions by team members ... 252
Finding your strongest team role ... 253
Determining what the team leader needs to do ... 254
Considering a skunkworks to protect your team from interference ... 254
Building Development and Implementation Networks ... 256
Launching the Innovation ... 257
Emphasizing planning, preparation, and refi nement ... 258
Promoting the project ... 259
Projecting the rate of adoption ... 260
Chapter 16: Spreading the Word to Diffuse Your Innovation . . . .261
Strategizing to Spread Your Innovation ... 261
Identifying potential adopters ... 262
Finding out how fast your innovation will spread ... 264
Setting the strategic parameters... 265
Targeting those early adopters ... 266
Designing Your Media Mix for Maximum Diffusion ... 268
Aiming for intelligent, sophisticated buyers ... 268
Emphasizing personal media in the early days ... 269
Adapting your marketing to the infl ection point ... 271
Priming the Pump with Freebies ... 272
Chapter 17: Protecting Intellectual Property. . . .275
Determining and Keeping Track of Your Intellectual Property Assets ... 276
Deciding what merits protection ... 276
Assessing the value of your intellectual property ... 277
Keeping track of the protective steps you’ve taken (or need to take) ... 278
Copyrighting As Much As You Can ... 279
Adding copyright protection to your work ... 280
Getting copyright protection when you’re not the author ... 281
Protecting Your Brands through Trademark ... 281
Ensuring that your brand is trademarkable ... 282
Applying for a trademark in the U.S. and elsewhere ... 283
Increasing your chances for trademark approval ... 284
Establishing your rights by using your mark ... 284
Pursuing Patent Protection ... 285
Searching for existing patents ... 286
Budgeting the cost of fi ling a patent ... 287
Considering foreign patent protection... 289
Filing a provisional patent ... 289
Assigning or licensing your patent rights ... 290
Protecting Trade Secrets ... 290
Taking reasonable precautions ... 291
Enforcing a trade secret ... 292
Keeping Your Records, Writings, Plans, and Designs Secure ... 292
Chapter 18: Building a Business Around Your Innovation . . . .295
Doing Your Development Homework ... 295
Researching and refi ning your idea and market ... 296
Deciding whether to proceed with your innovation ... 296
Protecting your intellectual property ... 297
Writing a Winning Business Plan ... 297
Design the cover, title page, and table of contents ... 299
Write the executive summary ... 299
Write your market analysis ... 300
Prepare a company description ... 301
Write a description of your innovation ... 301
Describe the organization and management of the business ... 302
Summarize marketing and sales ... 302
Present your service or product line ... 302
Explain your funding needs ... 303
Prepare your fi nancials ... 304
Prepare an appendix of supporting documents ... 305
Funding Your Innovative Venture ... 305
Pairing up with venture capitalists ... 306
Locating angel investors ... 307
Obtaining loans ... 308
Selling Your Inventions ... 308
Part V: The Part of Tens ... 309
Chapter 19: Ten Creative Ways to Boost Your Career . . . .311
Look for Opportunities to Stand Out ... 311
Share Your Enthusiasm for Innovative Ideas ... 312
Look for Emerging Problems You Can Help Solve ... 312
Look for Emerging Opportunities You Can Surf ... 313
Consider Working on Commission ... 314
Build Two Careers at the Same Time ... 314
Study ... 315
Volunteer ... 315
Champion Someone Else’s Good Idea ... 316
Chapter 20: Ten Tips for More Innovative Meetings . . . .317
Ask for Original Information and Ideas ... 317
Reorganize Your Meetings, Not Your Staff ... 318
Re-solve Old Problems ... 318
Use a “Sideways Thoughts” Board ... 319
Pay Close Attention to Body Language ... 319
Control Routine Topics Tightly ... 320
Control or Exclude Spoilers ... 321
Brainstorm at Least Once a Month ... 321
Ask for Multiple Alternatives ... 322
Meet Somewhere New and Different ... 322
Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Stimulate Your Creative Genius . . . .323
Persist, Persist, Persist ... 323
Work on BIG Problems ... 324
Rotate among Three Knotty Problems ... 325
Eat Ideas for Lunch ... 325
Work on Your Self-Talk ... 326
Correct Your Mental Biases ... 327
Nurture a Secret Project ... 328
Cross-Train in Art ... 329
Do Art Projects with Your Kids ... 329
Start or Join an Inventors’ Club ... 330
Chapter 22: Ten Tips for Better Implementation of Your Ideas . . . . .331
Develop Your Team First ... 331
Plan for the Worst ... 332
Account for Each Project Separately ... 333
Document Failures ... 334
Differentiate Owners from Workers ... 334
Communicate ... 335
Avoid Burnout ... 335
Resolve Confl icts (Don’t Avoid Them) ... 336
Know When to Persevere ... 336
Know When to Quit ... 337
